Android smartphone sent to space on STRaND-1

Last year we saw stunning images of the edge of space when Felix Baumgartner threw himself from the Red Bull pod and safely landed back down to earth.

And experts have now gone one step further in the quest to show us more about our solar system, by sending an Android smartphone into the Earth's orbit aboard the STRaND-1 nano-satellite.

It is loaded with the 360 App, which will capture images, collect satellite data and post updates to its Facebook page.

Space fans can log on to httt://360app.co.uk to see the images which the Nexus One takes.

STRaND-1 weighs just 3.5kg and the Nexus One phone is at the heart of it. The first phase of the mission will see the satellite using experimental apps to collect data, while a high-speed Linux-based cubesat computer will control things.

"During phase two, the STRaND team hope to switch the satellite's in-orbit operations to the smartphone, thereby testing the capabilities of a number of standard smartphone components for a space environment," the developers from the University of Surrey's Surrey Space Centre explained.